(Reuters) – Wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc ( TMUS.SO ) missed Wall Street estimates on Thursday for first-quarter revenue and monthly additions to postpaid phone customers, boosted by fierce competition and consumers upgrading their plans. ,
High inflation and macroeconomic challenges have forced consumers to cut back on spending even as rivals have undercut each other with cheaper, bundled deals, increasing customer pressure on the major wireless carriers.
T-Mobile’s total revenue fell 2.4% to $19.63 billion in the quarter ended in March, missing analysts’ estimates of $19.82 billion, according to Refinitiv.
T-Mobile added 538,000 monthly bill-paying phone customers in the quarter, compared with analysts’ expectations for a net gain of 547,800, according to FactSet. The company added 927,000 in the December quarter. However, T-Mobile raised its wireless subscriber growth forecast for the full year.
It now expects between 5.3 million and 5.7 million net wireless subscribers to be added in the year to December, down from a previous forecast of 5.0 million to 5.5 million. Analysts and investors typically keep a close eye on wireless subscriber phone numbers because these customers pay recurring monthly bills, making them valuable to carriers.
